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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25234381">the beginning and end of everything</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/agronautic/pseuds/agronaut'>agronaut (agronautic)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, alternate end to the series, as a treat, i said you can have a little zukka, minor sokka/zuko</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 03:20:47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,553</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25234381</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/agronautic/pseuds/agronaut</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>With the war behind them, there's still much left to do in order to begin the process of healing.</p>
<p>An alternate ending to the series, in which Aang and Katara don't get together straight away, but instead allow themselves room to grow and mature on their own before finding their way back to each other.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aang/Katara (Avatar), Minor or Background Relationship(s), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>46</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>the beginning and end of everything</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>&gt; rewatch A:TLA<br/>&gt; still love kataang, but realize there are better ways the creators could've handled their relationship<br/>&gt; stay awake until 3 a.m. writing a short story as catharsis<br/>&gt; pass out</p>
<p>Please forgive any typos or inconsistencies. This was written very, very late.</p>
<p>Enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>"I love her, and that's the beginning and end of everything." - F. Scott Fitzgerald</strong>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The evening air is crisp, and cool. A welcome change to the unbearable, blistering heat that came with the afternoon. Inside the Jasmin Dragon, his friend’s laugh amongst themselves, exchanging jokes and tales over tea. He’d escaped just after Sokka’s- <em>creative</em> rendition of their team. He only needed some time to himself.</p>
<p>Katara joins him after a moment. She’s smiling, and his breath catches in his throat because her beauty still manages to catch him by surprise. He doesn’t think he’ll ever meet a girl prettier than her – in fact, he <em>knows</em> he won’t, with every fiber of his being. He smiles back, and she wraps her arms around him and laughs, just a little. He squeezes her tight and feels like he could live in this moment forever.</p>
<p>He loves her. He thinks he loved her the moment he saw her, breathless and wide-eyed and so, so beautiful. And maybe, just maybe, she loves him too. He remembers what she’d said, on the balcony of the theatre; that there was no time to think about him, about <em>them</em> – not with a war raging on, not with Sozin’s comet looming ever so closer. He didn’t quite understand, then, but he does, now. He understands, and he still loves her, and maybe she loves him, too… And although the war is over, although now is the time for peace, there is still <em>so</em> much left to do. So many wounds to heal, so many deaths to mourn, so much loss to overcome. And he… He belongs to <em>all</em> the people of the world, he has a duty to help them, especially now. He must guide them, so that the mistakes of the past do not come to repeat themselves.</p>
<p>She pulls back, not letting go of him. Just enough so that she can look at him. He loves her, and he can see in her eyes that she loves him, too. But now is still not the time for them, and so when she leans forward, he turns his face. Her lips graze his cheek, soft and sweet; but that wasn’t her original goal. The confusion is evident in her eyes when she pulls away, and he thinks he spots a bit of hurt in there as well.</p>
<p>“We still have a lot to do,” he says, quietly. “And it wouldn’t be fair for you to wait for me. There are things I’ll have to do on my own, maybe a lot of things…” The confusion falls away with every word he says, but the hurt remains. She draws back completely, and he misses her warmth almost immediately.</p>
<p>“What are you saying?” she asks, though he has a sneaking suspicion she already knows.</p>
<p>He takes a deep breath. “Katara, I-” His voice stutters, blush rising to his cheeks, but he carries on, “I love you.”</p>
<p>“But…?”</p>
<p>“There is no ‘but’. I love you, period. I’ll always love you.” Her face colors a pretty shade of red, and he smiles fondly, briefly, before schooling his expression into something more serious. “I don’t- I don’t think there will ever be anybody besides <em>you</em>, so… So, if you’re still there for me, after everything has calmed down. If- if you love me now, and still love me then, well… Then we’ll find each other, again.”</p>
<p>She looks sad, for a moment. Then angry, for even less. Then, finally, she breathes in, breathes out, and wraps him in another hug. He hugs back fiercely, and if before he didn’t want to let go, he certainly doesn’t want to now.</p>
<p>“I <em>do</em> love you, and I hope you’ll wait for me, too,” she says, and with a final kiss to his cheek she steps back and heads inside.</p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>He doesn’t get much time to breathe, after that. Between stretching himself across 3 nations, there is still the matter of restoring the Air Temples. He hates to think of it as a side project, because it is a fundamental part of himself that had been taken away so abruptly, so cruelly… But the fact of the matter is that there are living, breathing people who need him more – most of the time, at least. Whatever spare time he gets, he spends overseeing the restoration process. If only so they don’t twist his people’s culture into something unrecognizable. After seeing what Teo’s father had done to the Northern Air Temple… He doesn’t think he can survive that heartache; not again.</p>
<p>He hardly sees his friends. With Zuko as the Fire Lord, and Sokka as the Ambassador of the South Pole, they’re probably the ones he sees the most. Suki and the other Kyoshi warriors sometimes act as bodyguards to high-ranking Earth Kingdom officials, so he sees her sometimes, too. Toph is travelling the world, and Katara… Katara spends most of her time in the South Pole, helping in the effort to restore her tribe to its former glory. When she’s not in her homeland, she’s in the Fire Nation visiting Sokka and Zuko, or in the Earth Kingdom, doing whatever she can to provide relief for those hurt by the Fire Nation occupation. Whenever they cross paths, Aang’s heart becomes heavy – with longing, with love he cannot bring himself to express, with fear and guilt and everything and nothing. He sees the struggle in her eyes, too, but neither of them dares to speak of it. For now, he thinks this is enough – seeing, and knowing that she’s longing for him, too. Knowing that she’s chosen to wait, and that maybe, just maybe, he’s it for her, too.<strike></strike></p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Within two years, the Air Temples are finally restored. He visits each and every one of them, thanks the people who worked so tirelessly, so passionately. He feels like he’s regained a piece of himself, and although he still isn’t certain where the Air Nomads can go from here, just knowing that there is still a place for them in this world, makes all the difference.</p>
<p>It’s a cold, Autumn night, but he leaves the window open and falls asleep in his old room, Momo curled around him and Appa snoring just outside. He dreams of nothing, and wakes feeling more hopeful than ever before.</p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Another year gone, and he finds himself visiting the Fire Nation for a royal betrothal ceremony.</p>
<p>Sokka and Zuko had asked each other in engagement a few months ago, in a private setting away from prying eyes. Aang had received a letter from Katara not a day later; she and her father had been in the Fire Nation for a month already, on unofficial business for the Fire Lord. That is to say, teaching Zuko how to carve a betrothal necklace. Apparently, everyone had known about their two-year long courtship – everyone, except Aang himself.</p>
<p>The betrothal ceremony is more for the people, than for the couple – an official way to announce a tremendous occasion. The Fire Lord is getting married, after all, and the people love him. Aang knows there are those who will oppose the union, but he also knows that Zuko will draw strength from Sokka, and that they will help each other to be brave.</p>
<p>The party is wonderfully upbeat. There is dancing and fireworks and food that leaves his tongue burning from a careful mixture of pain and pleasure. Most importantly of all, however, there is Katara.</p>
<p>She’s dressed in a mix of Fire Nation red and gold, and Water Tribe blue and white. Her hair is down, with the exception of the braids which frame her face and tie into the headpiece upon the crown of her head. Her arms are exposed, and he can see the muscle she’s gained, the pure strength. He catches himself staring at her one too many times throughout the festivities but can’t quite bring himself to care. Not when she looks as breathtaking as she does now, her eyes bright with happiness and love and a little bit of melancholy, too. Not when she sometimes catches him staring and smiles like she’s still in love.</p>
<p>When the night draws to a close, and the palace grows empty, he and all his friends seek refuge in a garden hidden from view. There are smiles on all of their faces, but Aang can’t help himself from looking at Sokka and Zuko, at their flushed faces and joined hands, fingers interwoven. He spies the betrothal necklace on Sokka’s neck, hidden from view until now, and the delicate band around Zuko’s left ring finger. When things quiet down, he tells them how happy he is for them, feels tears spill down his cheeks and the tight pressure around his heart ease. They gather in a group hug and cry together; and though Toph will deny it later, a few tears slip down her face as well.</p>
<p>Katara finds him in his room much later. She’s already dressed in her nightclothes, her hair flowing freely. Whatever remnants of tiredness which had clung to him disappear in an instant. He fights to keep the blush from staining his cheeks and listens to her as she tells him she’s had trouble sleeping. He can see the fatigue in her posture, the way she carries herself; he invites her inside, and she finds the bed on her own, a yawn escaping her as she settles beneath the covers and closes her eyes. He blinks, unsure of what to do. A moment passes before she turns towards him and lifts the blanket, patting the space beside her.</p>
<p>He takes a step towards the bed, and then another, and another, until his knees hit the frame and he’s faced with Katara’s beautiful eyes staring back at him. Neither of them speaks as he lowers himself onto the bed, as he allows his eyes to close, as Katara moves closer, wrapping an arm around his middle, and placing leg over his own. She’s asleep within minutes; he follows soon after.</p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>In the morning, she’s gone, the space beside him still warm. When he gets up, he finds a note on top of the desk which reads, <em>I’m ready when you are</em>. He tucks the paper in between the folds of his robe and tries to find the words to express what’s going on in his heart.</p>
<p> </p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>A few months pass before he sees her again. His Avatar duties have brought him to the North Pole; he’s to oversee a diplomatic treaty between the Northern Water Tribe, and the Earth Kingdom which will allow trade between both parties. Honestly, he feels like it’s something that should have been established a while ago… But the Earth Kingdom is still dealing with the harsh fallout from the war, so they’ve been slow on establishing connections between themselves and the other nations.</p>
<p>It’s only until after the meeting is adjourned that he finds her. He’d heard she was visiting to teach some waterbending classes until Master Pakku could find a suitable replacement. Aang knows that Katara would nominate herself, had she not been tied down with other duties around the world.</p>
<p>It’s close to the class’s end. He knows this because she’s showing them a final summary of what they should train until next class. The students marvel at her abilities, and Aang finds himself in awe alongside them, although it’s nothing he’s never seen before.</p>
<p>She moves fluidly between katas, announcing which techniques she’s demonstrating before each set. When she finishes, she bows to her pupils, as they bow to her. Then she dismisses them, a smile on her lips as they rush to leave, laughter ringing in the air around them. It’s only then that she notices Aang.</p>
<p>There’s something in her eyes as he walks toward her. Maybe it’s apprehension, maybe it’s joy. He can’t quite tell; but it disappears soon enough, and she asks what brings him to the North Pole (though she undoubtedly knows already, holding an honorary seat on the council). He tells her, and then, before she can say anything else, he asks if she would like to have supper together. At this, she only smiles and nods.</p>
<p>They walk to the main plaza and buy food from the street vendors. Then Katara leads him to a spot where they can sit and watch the stars, and they catch up. It’s more than nice – it’s everything he’s missed, everything he’s been wanting – no, <em>aching</em> for but hasn’t had the courage to ask for.</p>
<p>When they finish, they stare up at the sky in silence. His hand finds Katara’s, and she threads her fingers with his and squeezes ever so slightly. She rests her head against his shoulder, huffs a laugh.</p>
<p>“Since when are you taller than me?” she asks.</p>
<p>He turns his head to look at her and smiles. “A while now. I’m surprised you didn’t notice sooner.” He squeezes her hand, mostly just to make sure she’s really there.</p>
<p>“How could I?” There’s mirth in her voice, but when she looks away, it’s gone, replaced with a furrowed brow and a slight frown. “We’ve barely seen each other these past few years, Aang.”</p>
<p>“I’m sorry.” He doesn’t know what else to say.</p>
<p>She flashes him a half-smile and draws her hand away gently. He forces himself not to reach for her again. “Don’t be. We’ve both been so busy… I never thought there would be so much left to do.” She pauses, sighing. “You were right, with what you said back then. I don’t know if our relationship could’ve survived all that time apart… Not to mention the fact that I still had so much to learn, and experience… Spirits, I’m <em>still</em> learning.” She looks at him, smiling ruefully. “I’m sure it’s been the same with you.”</p>
<p>He tucks a stray hair behind her ear and lets his hand drift to her face momentarily before pulling it back. “It has,” he says. “But it hasn’t been all that bad, has it?”</p>
<p>“Of course not.” Her fingers find his once more, and he smiles without realizing it. She smiles back at him, ethereal in the moonlight. “I’ve helped so many people, heard so many stories. My tribe is prospering for the first time in years, and I’ve travelled to some of the most amazing places I’d never even heard about… My brother is getting <em>married</em> for spirits’ sake – and to the <em>Fire Lord</em>!” She lets out a laugh, eyes bright and gorgeous. Just when Aang thinks he can’t possibly love her more than he does now, she proves him wrong.</p>
<p>She turns to him fully, then, a smile on her lips that makes his heart sing. “And this whole time? I kept thinking about you,” she says, just loud enough for the two of them. “Wherever I was, whatever I was doing… In those quiet moments when I had time to myself, I thought of you.”</p>
<p>It’s all been leading up to this, he realizes. These years they’ve been apart, growing, finding parts of themselves they never knew they had – everything they’ve done, has led them to this moment. And what a perfect moment it is. He cups her cheek with his free hand and smiles, thumb grazing her cheekbone tenderly. When she leans forward, this time he doesn’t turn away.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Please leave a kudos and comment if you enjoyed! I've always liked kataang, although I know their relationship at the end was kinda weird. I think they both had a lot of love for each other... But the fact of the matter was that they'd been travelling together for about a year, and by the time the war ended they were both still so young... They had to mature! They had to grow! But I feel like the love they held would remain, hence this fic. Thank you for reading!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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